Rating: 
Summary: A Must for the Study of Southern Culture.
Review: To preserve Southern culture is to preserve a culture with strong roots for many Americans. Just as this film depicts an attempt to preserve old English ballads that have survived nearly intact because of the isolation of the mountain people, the film itself is important because it, itself, is an attempt at cultural preservation. The mountain setting of the film is extraordinarily rich, the characters are thankfully more real than stereotypical, and the story is rich and fullfilling. Pat Carroll's performance is exceptional. One of the major plusses of this movie is the way the set design and cinematography contributes to the story. In one key scene shot inside a cabin, the crude conditions are clearly shown by the daylight winking through the walls. The plight of the characters' living conditions is certainly obvious in the story, but that cabin told the rest of the story. In another scene, several people are dancing outdoors and the camera is positioned so that the viewer seems to be standing in the crowd. The scene develops as all but two of the characters dance and the movement of the camera around the dancers to a high angle shot from the trees stretches and isolates the scene so that the dancers are shown to be some distance from the two non-dancers. This shot establishes not so much a rift between the characters, but a separation. This film is very similar to Donald Davidson's novel, The Big Ballad Jamboree (University Press of Mississippi), and I strongly recommend both the movie and the book to everyone wanting to enjoy the richness of true "hillbilly" life and music.
Rating:
Summary: A FILM TO BE TREASURED...
Review: This is a beautiful and unusual film, made even more so by its joyous celebration of folk music. Beautifully nuanced, well paced, and highly absorbing, this haunting film is an absolute gem. It is no wonder that it won the 2000 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. The performances in this film are simply stellar and worthy of recognition. The year is 1907, and the highly independent and intelligent Dr. Lily Penleric (Janet McTeer), a noted musicologist, has once again been passed over for promotion by the college at which she teaches. Angry, she decides to pull up stakes and go to visit her sister, Elna (Jane Adams), who is one of two women teaching at a settlement school in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. When Janet arrives, she hears one of her sister's helpers, Deladis (Emma Rossum), singing an old folk song that she recognizes. It is being sung in a way that she has never before heard it sung. Upon discovering that the song was handed down generationally in this insular community, she realizes that she may actually be hearing the song as it may originally have been intended to be sung. Excited by her discovery, she sets about capturing as many songs as she can from these fiercely proud, mountain people. In effect, she is memorializing a rich, oral, musical history. Her project takes Janet on a voyage of self-discovery, both personal and professional. Along the way, she becomes immersed in the the lives and traditions of these mountain people, realizing what an integral part music plays in their lives. While poor in terms of creature comforts and leading a harsh, hardscrabble sort of life, these mountain folks have a culturally rich, oral tradition and are a veritable treasure trove of old songs. While catching the music and lyrics of these old songs for posterity and wider appreciation, notating her discovery of these songs for a book that she hopes to write, Dr. Penleric makes the acquaintance of a number of mountain men and women, including a tough old bird, Viney Butler (Pat Carroll). This leads to meeting with her suspicious but intelligent, talented, and good looking grandson, Tom Bledsoe (Aidan Quinn), with whom she ultimately developes a passionate relationship that correlates nicely to her passion for music. A number of other subplots are woven throughout this film. One involves her sister, Elna, who becomes involved with a love that dare not speak its name. There is also a love triangle between two of the mountain woman and the husband of one of them. Young love and coming of age is also a theme touched upon. Meanwhile, a mining company seeks to buy out the land from under these people for a mere pittance. All of these subplots serve to illustrate the often harsh reality of life in the mountains. The only problem that I found was with the subplot involving Elna and her lover, Harriet, in terms of the complacency that surrounds what ultimately happens to Harriet. It was a most disturbing resolution that did not ring altogether true. Still, the overall strength of the film is such that it overcomes this incongruity. Janet McTeer gives a no nonsense performance, and the way that the music seems to transfix and transform her is a joy to behold. Jane Adams, as the sister who is having a same sex love affair, gives an exquisitely beautiful and sensitive performance, as does E. Katherine Kerr in the role of Harriet, the settlement school teacher with whom she is involved. Aidan Quinn gives an intelligent and thoughtful performance as a mountain man who has been to the outside world and found it wanting. Pat Carroll is sensational as Viney Butler, the mountain woman who takes the vicissitudes of life in stride and wears many hats: mother, grandmother, midwife, musician, singer, and oral historian. Emma Rossum, however, is positively radiant as the young, fresh faced, mountain lass with a smile and voice that will tear your heart apart. She is a wonderful, young performer with operatic training and the ability to sing like Dolly Parton. What a find! Cameo appearances by Taj Mahal, Iris Dement, and others serve to further enrich this film. The music and songs are played and sung live, which makes them resonate with authenticity and adds a vibrancy that might otherwise be lost. The folk dancing is a joy to watch, as the mountain people gather aound for a jamboree. The film, shot on location, captures all the physical beauty of the terrain, as well as the rusticity and harshness of life in the mountains. This is simply a great film that is well worth having in one's personal collection. The DVD is first rate, providing a clear, quality picture and great sound. It offers a wonderful commentary with the director, Maggie Greenwald, that explains the underpinnings of the film. There is also an interesting feature on the making of the film. All in all, it is a must have DVD for music lovers, as well as for those who simply enjoy a well made and beautifully acted film. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: Music of the Heart Among the Appalachian Mountains
Review: "Songcatcher" is a good example of watching a talented newcomer showing her promising career before her. I meam Emmy Rossum, whose angelic voice would captivate your heart. And just like her voice, the film's greatest virtue lies in its music, around which the story revolves. It's in 1907, America. Lily Penleric, an associate-professor of music, decides to leave the academic institute, whose donnish scholars deny her any chance of due recognition. Now she is with her sisiter, deep in the Appalachian mountains, where she accidentally finds that old ballads are miraculously preserved among the people living there. Lily starts to collect the songs on the wax cylinders, but as you see, as Lily herself soon does, that she might be exploiting the unsuspecting people under the name of academic research. The writer/director Maggie Greenwald shows tendency towards feminism message, which thankfully does not play the main role in most of the part. In fact, the characters including Aidan Quinn or veteran Pat Carroll (known for the voice of Ursula in "The Little Mermaid") lack the steady and credible development, and the love themes of the film fail to interest us. The story which involves even lesbianism is often too meldramatic to take seriously, with such familiar elements as arson and sudden gunshot. But the film's music will compensate all. The ballads, or type of folk songs, are irresistible, moving our heart with its simple lyrics and enthralling melody. When the music starts, the film also starts to soar, and the film has been given many occasions for these songs to be played by real talents, which include, beside Emmy Rossum. Iris Dument or Hazel Dickens. Plus you see a brief cameo of Taj Mahal. Watch, or listen to this film for its music. And the photography showing the life among the mountains is also beautiful to see.
Rating: 
Summary: a pleasant, if meandering film
Review: The backdrop and inspiration of "Songcatcher" is the music of the Appalachian Mountains at the turn of the century. This alone would have been enough to make for a good movie. Janet McTeer plays a musicologist who is surprised to learn that the people of this area have an oral tradition that has kept alive traditional songs thought long dead. The title of the film is "Songcatcher." The reality is that these people were often times referred to as "song stealers," and weren't as kind and generous as the McTeer character is. The film would have been entertaining enough had the filmmakers decided to explore this portion of the story. Sadly, that is not the case. They decided, instead, to bog down the story with one soap opera after the next. There's a school house in danger of closing down, a secret love affair between two teachers (though I wouldn't be so dismissive and ignorant as to call it a "lesbian agenda" as another reviewer has), and the refined musicologist falling for the backwoods and backwards mountain man (Aidan Quinn). These parts of the story didn't gel for me. On their own or maybe in an entirely different film, they could have added something. Here, they just detracted from the story and the real heart of the film -- the mountain, its people and its music. If you are a fan of traditional music and good scenery, you'll enjoy "Songcatcher." Just don't get sidetracked by the unnecessary dramatics.
Rating:
Summary: Music of the Heart Among the Appalachian Mountains
Review: "Songcatcher" is a good example of watching a talented newcomer showing her promising career before her. I meam Emmy Rossum, whose angelic voice would captivate your heart. And just like her voice, the film's greatest virtue lies in its music, around which the story revolves. It's in 1907, America. Lily Penleric, an associate-professor of music, decides to leave the academic institute, whose donnish scholars deny her any chance of due recognition. Now she is with her sisiter, deep in the Appalachian mountains, where she accidentally finds that old ballads are miraculously preserved among the people living there. Lily starts to collect the songs on the wax cylinders, but as you see, as Lily herself soon does, that she might be exploiting the unsuspecting people under the name of academic research. The writer/director Maggie Greenwald shows tendency towards feminism message, which thankfully does not play the main role in most of the part. In fact, the characters including Aidan Quinn or veteran Pat Carroll (known for the voice of Ursula in "The Little Mermaid") lack the steady and credible development, and the love themes of the film fail to interest us. The story which involves even lesbianism is often too meldramatic to take seriously, with such familiar elements as arson and sudden gunshot. But the film's music will compensate all. The ballads, or type of folk songs, are irresistible, moving our heart with its simple lyrics and enthralling melody. When the music starts, the film also starts to soar, and the film has been given many occasions for these songs to be played by real talents, which include, beside Emmy Rossum. Iris Dument or Hazel Dickens. Plus you see a brief cameo of Taj Mahal. Watch, or listen to this film for its music. And the photography showing the life among the mountains is also beautiful to see.
Rating:
Summary: Sit back and enjoy the music!
Review: I probably would have rated this movie 4 stars just for the music alone -- absolutely sensational. The story itself has a few weaknesses but the acting is excellent (particularly Emmy Rossum as Deladis and Pat Carroll as Viney Butler). You don't watch a movie like this for the plot, anyway. Just sit back and enjoy the music and the cinematography. By the way -- a bit of a warning here for those who want to rush out and buy the soundtrack. Although the soundtrack is excellent in its own right, it is NOT the same as what you hear in the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Honest Living
Review: What a wonderful, honest, beautiful movie. This is just one of those movies that you will get all attached to and watch over and over again. Everyone that I showed this DVD to has just loved it. Don't lend it out because you will never get it back.
Trust me. Robert DeAngelis/Author: Oblivious Sensitive
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie
Review: This movie has heart. Also an excellent story, terrific acting, and beautiful music.
Rating:
Summary: Shotgun Approach
Review: Having grown up in these very places, I was able to enjoy the scenery and the music, and especially seeing old friends like Sheila Kay Adams playing banjo at the dance. If you're not a fan of folk music, you might not catch all the cameos: Iris DeMent, Hazel Dickens, etc. If you are a fan, then there's just not enough music, and the cameos are painfully short. The shotgun approach to plot, though, is tiresome. Is this about feminism, lesbianism, modernism, or music? Ignorance and arson....well, we couldn't have a movie about the hills without some stereotypes, could we? Not to mention forced accents. Charming, but could have been done better.
Rating:
Summary: Finally a movie that mostly gets it right...
Review: First, I must say how ignorant it is for some to knock the lesbian storyline (very small anyway), when we get a great story about the mountains we don't need closeminded hicks to prove what so many think about us and sadly push people away from finding out more about a facinating life. I am from those mountains, West Virginia, and it affected my life profoundly as it does anyone blessed to be from them. Even after becoming a "city girl" as my father still calls me, I still operate day to day as if I hadn't left and am a much better person for it. I know some back home don't like outsiders but there are truly great people out there who just want to know all they can about life there and this movie kinda shows that and that not all are wanting to shame and judge us.
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